Video transmission for road safety applications

ABSTRACT

A method for providing road safety services in a cellular system includes a road safety application forming at least one group including at least one first UE for exchanging information with the road safety application. Road safety information is received in at least one base station or in at least one second UE or in an external processing block connected to the at least one base station or to the at least one second UE and is transmitted to the at least one first UEs within the group. The road safety information is retrieved while using at least one group identifier and a scheduling assignment provided to the at least one first UE by the at least one base station or by the at least one second UE.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/838,484, filed Aug. 28, 2015, whose disclosure is incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to digital communication systems and inparticular to cellular systems distributing information over radio touser equipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless access networks, including cellular networks, are designed forproviding user connectivity with the Internet or with multimediaservers. The Internet is considered to be the main source of informationfor mobile users.

Cellular base stations will become more service oriented, some of themalready providing cashing services for video streamed by the network.Adding services to base stations is perceived as an IaaS (Infrastructureas a Service) approach, providing additional revenues for the cellularoperators.

Video streaming is an example of multimedia services. Due to capacitylimitations of the transport network, the video is compressed incompliance with International Standards, for example MPEG-2 or MPEG-4.There are two main aspects of a compressed video image, which haveadverse effects on a possible implementation:

-   -   1. Quality, the image being slightly distorted due to        compression;    -   2. Latency, resulting from the relatively long time required for        compression and decompression (only the compression step may        take 500 ms).

The CEA-861 and the HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) standardsdefine video frame formats for uncompressed high definition video,wherein the data rates required for uncompressed image transmission varybetween 0.5 Gb/s and 3 Gb/s. The wireless video transmission at suchhigh data rates is possible by using either 802.11, LTE or proprietarysolutions. With few exceptions, the users of such systems are fixed andindoor located. The few cases in which the users are mobile, outdoorlocated, involve industrial applications, but these do not use yet thecellular technology.

For each pixel a color code may be transmitted according to standardformats (e.g. RGB, YCbCr, etc.). The color code includes the number ofbits used for each color or luma (brightness) component.

The mobile service enables “applications”, running on the mobile phone.The modern cellular systems, like LTE, provide support for broadcastcompressed video, the related functionality being known as MBSFN (MultiMedia Broadcast Single Frequency Network), targeting the video servicevia a multitude of base stations which operate in a synchronized modeand transmit the compressed video image.

“Video over IP”, is another video streaming service, which is in fact adata service, using also compressed video.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure may be summarized by referring to the appended claims.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and deviceto enable transmitting data from a sensor (e.g. a video camera) locatedin the vicinity of a UE (user equipment) or of a base station, data thatmay be forwarded to other UEs.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method anddevice to enable providing information to drivers whose field of view iscurrently obstructed.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description.

According to a first embodiment of the invention, a method is providedfor use in a cellular system, which comprises the steps of:

establishing a communication link between at least one local videosensor to a base station or to a first user equipment (UE), by using anon-cellular technology;

establishing a radio communication channel by using a cellulartechnology between at least one second user equipment (UE) and the basestation or between at least one second UE and the first UE by using adevice-to-device (D2D) cellular technology;

transmitting over the radio communication channel at least one of thefollowing: uncompressed video data representing at least one area of atleast one video image that was received from the at least one localvideo sensor or control information resulting from processing thereceived video image; and

providing to at least one mobile application residing at the at leastone second UE or to at least one control element associated with the atleast one second UE at least one of the following: the receiveduncompressed video data representing at least one area of at least onevideo image or the control information or any combination thereof.

This method may be used for example for providing short-range servicesin the cellular system.

The term “local sensor” or “local video sensor” as used hereinthroughout the specification and claims refers to a sensor (or a videosensor as the case may be) located at the geographical vicinity of a UEor a base station.

The term “device-to-device (D2D)” as used herein throughout thespecification and claims refers to direct communications using cellulartechnology between nearby mobile devices. It facilitates theinteroperability between critical public safety networks and globalcommercial networks based on e.g. LTE.

According to another embodiment, at least one of the following: a localvideo sensor or the at least one control element is identified by atleast one member of a group that consists of: a cellular SIM, anEthernet address or a product identification number.

In accordance with another embodiment, the at least one local sensor isa video camera transmitting at least one uncompressed area of at leastone video image.

By yet another embodiment, transmitting the at least one uncompressedarea of the video image includes processing of the video image foradapting the transmitted data rate to at least one of the following:time-frequency resource or modulation and coding rate, assigned fortransmission over the radio communication channel.

According to still another embodiment, the at least one video image or acommand derived from data comprised in the at least one video image, isused by a robot or by a control element embedded in a vehicle.

In accordance with another embodiment, the at least one video image isdisplayed on a user equipment located within a vehicle, and wherein theat least one video image being displayed, presents a current view of aroad along which the vehicle is driving or is about to drive.

According to another embodiment, the control element is configured tocarry out at least one of the following actions: to activate an alert,to control the movement of the vehicle and to send a message to a thirdparty, e.g. the police or other first responders.

By still another embodiment, the video camera is used in theprovisioning health services.

In accordance with still another embodiment, a code representing atleast one of the short-range services is broadcasted by the base stationor by the first UE.

According to another embodiment, the code representing the type of atleast one of the short-range services is stored at a database togetherwith information that allows identifying radio cells and base stationthrough which that type of at least one of the short-range services maybe provided.

According to yet another embodiment, the database further includeslocation information of a base station through which that type of atleast one of the short-range services may be provided, for allowing afast handover of the second UE to a different base station or a UEserved by a different base station, through which the type of at leastone of the short-services, may be provided.

By still another embodiment, at least one of the short-range services isprovided by a specific network operator.

In accordance with another embodiment, the radio communication includescarrier aggregation.

According to yet another embodiment, at least one carrier in un-licensedor light licensed spectrum, is utilized in the radio communicationchannel.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a userequipment (UE) apparatus for use in a cellular system, which comprises:

a first interface, configured to enable establishing a communicationlink between at least one local video sensor and said UE, by using anon-cellular technology;

a second interface, configured to enable establishing a radiocommunication channel between said UE and at least one other userequipment (UE), by using a D2D cellular technology;

a receiver configured to receive uncompressed video data from the atleast one local video sensor; and

a transmitter configured to transmit over the radio communicationchannel to the at least one other UE at least one member of a group thatconsists of: uncompressed video data representing at least one area ofat least one video image received from the at least one local videosensor or control data retrieved after having processed the at least onereceived video image.

According to yet another embodiment, the UE apparatus further compriseat least one processing block configured to process the at least onearea of the at least one video image received from the at least onelocal video sensor, for adapting the transmitted data rate at which thedata will be transmitted by the transmitter, according to at least oneof the following: time-frequency resource or modulation and coding rate,as assigned for transmitting the data over the radio communicationchannel.

In accordance with another embodiment, the data received from the atleast one local sensor comprises at least one video image adapted to bedisplayed on the at least one other UE located within a vehicle, andwherein the at least one video image presents a current view of a roadalong which the vehicle, in which one of the at least one other UE isinstalled, is driving or is about to drive.

By still another embodiment, the at least one processor is configured toprocess data received from the at least one local sensor, and todetermine based on the processed data whether a control instructionshould be sent to the at least one other user. For example, such acontrol instruction may relate to at least one of the following actions:to activate an alert, to control the movement of the vehicle and to senda message to at least one third party.

According to another aspect, there is provided a communication apparatusfor use in a cellular system and comprising:

a first interface, configured to enable establishing a communicationlink between at least one local sensor and said communication apparatus,by using a non-cellular technology;

a second interface, configured to enable establishing a communicationchannel between said communication apparatus and at least one userequipment (UE), by using a cellular technology;

a receiver configured to receive data from the at least one localsensor; and

a transmitter configured to transmit over the radio communicationchannel to the at least one UE the data provided by the at least onesensor.

In an embodiment, the local sensor is a video sensor, and the receiveris configured to receive uncompressed video data representing at leastone area of the at least one video image from the video sensor and thetransmitter is configured to transmit over the radio communicationchannel to the at least one UE at least one member of a group thatconsists of: uncompressed video data representing at least one area ofthe at least one video image received from the video sensor or dataretrieved from processing by a processing block the at least one area ofthe at least one video image.

In accordance with another embodiment, the processing block isconfigured to generate at least one command or an audio alert whichrelates to operation of at least one other apparatus connected over aradio link, wherein the command or the audio alert is based oninformation derived from processing said at least one area of the atleast one video image.

By yet another embodiment, the processor is further configured toprocess the at least one video image for adapting the transmitted datarate at which the data will be transmitted by the transmitter, accordingto at least one of the following: time-frequency resource or modulationand coding rate, as assigned for transmitting the data over the radiocommunication channel.

According to another aspect, there is provided a user equipment (UE)apparatus for use in a cellular system and comprising:

a radio interface, configured to enable establishing a radiocommunication channel based on a cellular technology between the UE andat least one base station or another user equipment (UE); and

a processing block configured to:

a) receive over the radio communication channel control informationderived from processing uncompressed video data representing at leastone area of at least one video image (e.g. in case the processing isdone by a remote entity, such as a remote processor, and only controlinformation is transmitted over the radio communication channel); or

b) process data representing at least one area of an uncompressed videoimage received over the radio communication channel (e.g. in case thedata of that image is received over the radio communication channel, andits processing is done by the processing block of the UE); or

c) any combinations thereof, and to trigger at least one action selectedfrom a group that consists of:

(i) display a video image on the UE display;

(ii) activate an audio alert;

(iii) provide a command to at least one other apparatus.

According to still another aspect, there is provided a vehicle,including a controller and brake actuator or a driving robot, whereinthe vehicle comprises a processor configured to analyze uncompressedvideo data representing at least one area of at least one video imagetransmitted over a cellular network and configured to determine anaction to be taken based on results of processing the at least oneimage.

According to another embodiment of this aspect of the invention. Theaction to be taken is a member of a group that consists of: reducing thespeed of the vehicle, activating an audio alert, sending a message,sending an alert to a third party, or any combination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings.

The drawings do not represent an exhaustive representation of thepossible embodiments of the invention and the invention is not limitedto the arrangements presented in the drawings.

The drawings are:

FIG. 1—Represents a system architecture in which the Information Source(ISource) is connected to the serving base station;

FIG. 2—Represents a system architecture in which the ISource isconnected to a non-serving base station;

FIG. 3—Represents a system architecture in which the ISource isconnected to the to a UE (User Equipment) using D2D (Device to Device)communication;

FIG. 4—Represents an example of system use for road security;

FIG. 5—Represents a base station block diagram; and

FIG. 6—Represents a UE block diagram.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a betterunderstanding of the present invention by way of examples. It should beapparent, however, that the present invention may be practiced withoutthese specific details.

The following description uses terminology familiar to those skilled inthe art of wireless cellular networks and in particular in LTEtechnology. However, this fact should not be considered as restrictingthe applicability of the invention to these technologies, and it shouldbe understood that the present invention also encompasses other similartechnologies as well as evolving cellular technologies.

In the following description is illustrated an architecture of a mobilesystem, architecture which has been modified for indicating connectivitywith short-range information sources, exemplified by low-latency videostreaming.

In the following examples both the Information Source and theInformation User (IUser) are located within the RAN (Radio AccessNetwork).

The Information Source can be a video camera, essentially being used asa sensor as described in further details in the examples below, adifferent type of sensor, a radar, a medical device, a robot, acontroller, an industrial computer, etc.

The Information User can be a human, robot, a controller, or aprocessor/computer which may or not generate messages to a humaninterface (display, voice, sound, vibrations, etc.).

The access of an IUser to an Isource located in the RAN network isconsidered herein as being a short-range communication. Depending on itstype, the ISource can enable different short range services.

Typically, the Information User communicates with the Information Sourceover a wireless interface, which may also be used for regular cellularcommunication.

In case that the base station is mobile, for example mounted on avehicle, the ISource may be installed in the vehicle.

The terms “eNB” or “base station” should be understood to denote alltypes of applicable base stations, including among others macro, micro,femto or home base station, small cell eNB, relays, remote radio heads,associated with classical architecture or C-RAN architecture. All thetransmitters may be considered as Transmission Points (TP).

The I-Source may be embedded in an eNB or within a UE or may beconnected to either one of them through a non-Uu interface which may bewired or based on wireless standards, such as IEEE 802.11 or IEEE802.15, a proprietary wireless network, etc.

The term “Uu interface” as used herein should be understood to encompassboth the physical and link layers of the cellular communicationextending between a base station and a UE.

System Architecture—ISource Connected to eNB, UE Connected to the SameeNB

A first example of system architecture according to the presentinvention is depicted in FIG. 1, where LTE architecture is used forexemplification. The existing LTE system architecture includes aneNB-101 (base station) which communicates over the air with UE-102 (UserEquipment), while using air interface Uu-104. UE-105, connected toeNB-106, does not receive data from ISource. All eNBs may provideregular radio access services and may further communicate with theMME/S-GW-103 (Mobility Management Entity/Service Gateway). The S-GW actsas mobility anchor for the UE in its communication with the Internet andMultimedia Servers.

In addition, the system includes an Information Source (ISource)-112which communicates with the eNB-101 over an interface 114 which isnon-Uu (NUu) i.e. being a different interface from the cellularinterface Uu. The eNB can be either fixed or mobile.

NUu interface 114 can be a communication interface, for example an IPinterface over any suitable medium, including wired or wireless medium,a video interface for uncompressed video over Ethernet, HDMI, HDbaseT,DVI, USB, ATM, etc., a video interface for compressed video, such asMPEG2 or MPEG-4, an interface for retrieving information from a sensorconnection, like a temperature sensor, an interface for industrial datacommunication, like Actuator Sensor Interface, AS-i, etc.

Bearers

In LTE networks, the data Bearers allow the connection between anapplication running on UE and the S-GW (see FIG. 1) while enforcing aspecific QoS (Quality of Service) level. In fact the radio bearer (RB)is continued at the eNB with a NAS (Non-Access Stratum) bearer.

In the case of the architecture referred to herein, a different beareris preferably used, which connects UE to the eNB and terminates at theeNB, instead of extending to the S-GW. Following are some examples ofhow to achieve this change:

1. Reserve one or more bearers for local user data transport;

2. Introduce a flag indicating local termination or EPC termination.

Furthermore, the new bearers should have a specific QoS level. The QoSlevel may be set as a function of the allowed delay and packet loss ofthe sensor or of its control elements.

The short-range information can be split between data and its intrinsiccontrol information, where the control information is related to thecommands, for example to actuators which produce a movement, topositioning a video camera, etc.

The differentiation between the data and its control information shouldbe made either by different transport addresses for data and controls orby different fields in a message header carrying the user data,including both data and its controls.

System Architecture—ISource Connected to UE

Isource connected to UE is part of the architecture used today forconnecting different sensors to the Internet. In contradistinction tothis architecture, in the system provided by the present invention, thedata generated by the ISource will remain in the access network, i.e. ateNB level, and will not be forwarded through the S-GW towards the P-GW(Packet data network GW).

System Architecture—ISource Connected to eNB, UE Connected to aDifferent eNB

In another embodiment of the present invention, the data from theISource passes through an interface connecting two base stations, forexample X2 interface. FIG. 2 illustrates such an example. TheISource-212 is connected to eNB-106, while UE-102 receiving the datafrom ISource is connected to eNB-101. X2 interface-211 connects eNB-101with eNB-106.

Data can be transmitted between eNBs in an S1 or X2 “transparentcontainer”, being directed by the receiving eNB Controller to itsrecipient UE. However nowadays both 3GPP TS 36.413 V12.2.0 (2014-06) and3GPP TS 36.423 V12.2.0 (2014-06) do not define any transparent containerfor UE data transfer between eNBs having the functionality oftransferring data from an ISource connected to an eNB or a UE, toanother eNB or UE. The existing transparent containers are used only forthe purpose of executing a mobile handover.

System Architecture—D2D Communication

A different option is that data from the ISource will be transmittedover a D2D interface to a UE without passing through the eNB. FIG. 3illustrates such an approach, where the UE-308 is connected to theISource-112 through the non-Uu interface 114. Alternatively, the ISourcecan be embedded in UE-308. The UE-308 communicates via a D2D-314wireless interface with the UE-102.

The UEs communicating over a D2D interface may be connected to differenteNBs, as shown in FIG. 3, or to the same eNB.

In this case it would be preferred that the eNB serving the UE connectedto the Isource will broadcast the type of services offered by theIsource through a new SIB (System Information Block), as explainedbelow, respectively the UE will broadcast a D2DSIB (D2D SystemInformation Block). D2D-specific information should indicate thescheduling assignment for the transmission of each ISource.

Other type of architectures, including combinations of the architecturesdiscussed hereinabove, may be also used.

Connections Associated with the Information Source

The ISource should preferably be connected to the eNB through both dataand its control connections. In addition, the ISource may containadditional processing capabilities not included in the actual sensordevice. For example, in case of low-latency video streaming, the HD(High Definition) data rate reduction can be such an additionalprocessing.

The data connection and its control connection can use the same ordifferent physical interfaces. HDMI video interface includes cameracontrol commands, for example pan/tilt/zoom, but there are no messagesrelated to the interaction between eNB and ISource. Such messages canform a new logical interface using any suitable connectivity interface.

Integration of the Information Source into the Cellular Network

The Information Source should be identified, using for example itsEthernet MAC Address (a unique identifier), or the SIM (SubscriberIdentity Module) used in cellular communications, or a manufacturercode.

Using a SIM as an identifier for the Information Source enables theintegration of the I-Source, even if not connected through the cellularair interface, with the cellular core network, with HLR (Home LocationRegister) and AuC (Authentication Center), part of the HSS (HomeSubscriber Server), by using the same high-level protocols as a typicalcellular UE.

For example, the HSS authenticates the ISource based on the informationcomprised in its SIM card.

The Information Source with SIM may execute the Attach procedure. Aspart of the procedure, the Initial UE Message should be sent first overthe S1 interface, as described for example in 3GPP TS 36.413.

The Information Elements comprised in these messages should include as aminimum the information that relates to the maximum data rate or thedata rate range of the Isource over the non-Uu connection. The non-Uuconnection should preferably be further encoded as wired (and itstype(s)), wireless IEEE 802.11, wireless IEEE 802.15, proprietarywireless communications, etc.

For enabling the IaaS concept, each type of Information Source shouldpreferably be listed and identified in a data base by a code andeventually by a descriptive text including key words.

ISource position should preferably be indicated in the data base forexample by GSP or other positioning system, by proximity to an eNB or bya street address in a text format. The code may be used for a protocolused for exchanging communications between the data-base and an eNB or aUE, while the key words may be used by the UE (User) for searching anentity that provides a required service in its proximity.

In addition, the means for communicating with the eNB or with the UEwithin which the ISource is embedded or connected to, should bepreferably provided. Such means may be the eNB or the UE IP Address or aUE Identifier, which preferably should also be included in the database.

In case that the ISource is embedded in a UE, the UE ID (identifier),being visible in the access network, together with a code (port number,etc.) could be used to identify the ISource.

Similarly, in case that the ISource is embedded in an eNB, the eNB IPaddress or the eNB Identifier together with a code (port number, etc.)could be used to identify the ISource.

An eNB could also indicate to a served UE, based on its subscriptioninformation stored in the HSS or by applying a more dynamic registrationapproach, which ISources that are offered by other eNBs, could beconnected to the advertising eNB which will operate in such a case as arelay.

In a LTE system, the entity which has the information as to which eNB(s)a specific UE is connected, is the serving MME.

Service Capabilities and Operational Parameters

The type of the Information Source and its operational parameters can beconsidered as being part of base station or UE Service Capabilities. Thelow-latency DL (downlink) video streaming of the circulation on a roadshould be listed as an eNB capability, while the D2D video streaming asa UE Capability.

For example, in the case of a video camera, the Operational Parametersshould include an identification of the video framing based on theStandard applied or the exact frame format parameters (active pixels perhorizontal line, vertical line, 3D), the video frame frequency, thetransmission mode (progressive or interleaved), color coding, supportedcompression modes, manufacturer and product ID.

Discovery of Cells which Transmit Signals from an ISource

For discovering a suitable ISource by a mobile UE, one of the followingtwo basic approaches may be used:

A. The service is a part of the services advertised over the air by theeNB or a UE.

B. The cell identifier of the cell transmitting the information and theservice code or ISource code are known from a data base, as explainedabove.

Advertising Over the Air

A mobile UE that wishes to connect to a desired ISource has to find outfirst the eNB which can connect an IUser to that ISource. If the mobileUE and the UE connected to the ISource can use both a D2D (Device toDevice) cellular technology, the connection can be made directly betweenthese two UEs.

In an LTE network, an eNB operates a cell for a specific frequencychannel. Using an over the air interface (referred to as Uu according toLTE terminology), the UE may decode a cell identifier which is sent atregular times. In IEEE 802.11 such an identifier is BSSID identifying anAccess Point, while in LTE such an identifier is a Physical CellIdentity (PCI), which can be derived from the primary and secondarysynchronization signals sent every 10 ms. Physical Cell Identity is anambiguous identifier for eNB and can be repeated within the network,thereby it is possible to have cells associated with different eNBshaving the same Physical Cell Identity. A better LTE identifier is CellIdentity, which is unique for an operator. Cell Identity is sent inSystem Information Block 1 (SIB1), which is repeated at a maximum 20 msinterval.

In an embodiment of this invention, a list of each connected Isource andits type should be transmitted over the air in a new System InformationBlock (SIB) or in at least an Information Element within an existingSIB. This new SIB should be scheduled for frequent transmission, forexample 10-20-30 ms.

In a special embodiment of this invention a video camera is connected toan eNB or to a served UE or to another eNBs in its vicinity.

The base station may transmit the supported services (for example localvideo broadcast or multicast) and their operational parameters to anIaaS management center. The latter will control which parameters will beused, or the base station may determine locally the value of parameters.

The eNB will advertise over Uu interface its service capabilities to theserved UEs, or a served UE will query the eNB about its serviceprovisioning capabilities. As a result, the eNB will provide the servicethrough the connection to the ISource, over Uu interface, to the UEwishing to receive this service.

New messages should be defined between the UE and the eNB in order toallow this functionality. Such messages should include as a minimum thetype of the ISource and the means for communicating with it or with theeNB/UE within which it is embedded. Additional information could be theposition of the ISource, given by its GPS (satellite) coordinates or asderived based on the PRS (Positioning Reference Signals) transmitted bythe eNB or as a descriptive free text.

The connection to the ISource can be a unicast connection (e.g. for aspecific UE), or a multicast/broadcast connection (e.g. for severalUEs). Specific radio aspects may differ from the existing MBMS/MBSFNservice as described in 3GPP TS 36.211 V12.2.0 (2014-06).

The eNB may take into account when advertising a service at least oneof: the actual processing capabilities of the receiving or transmittingUE, the backhaul capabilities of the serving eNB, the serving basestation available radio capacity or current load status.

For example, if a 100 Mb/s non-compressed video stream is generated byan Information Source located in the vicinity of a base station but theX2 interface of the base station is using an ADSL connection with anuplink rate of 3 Mb/s, the UE cannot get access to this ISource. Samelimitation occurs if the backhaul is Fiber but the UE is of Category 2,supporting only 50 Mb/s downlink data rate.

In principle, an ISource with wired connection is fixed, however anISource connected to the base station through a wireless interface canstill be mobile. The ISource mobility is determined by the mobility ofthe eNB or UE to which it is connected or at which it is embedded. Themobility type of an ISource should be included in its capabilities listand be considered by the advertising eNB.

In some embodiments an ISource could be requested based on differentreasons including load balancing, to perform a handover to another eNB(if possible).

Application Level

The applications hosted by a UE are developed based on open operatingsystems, for example iOS and Android. The applications are written basedon programming interfaces, named API (Application ProgrammingInterface). Some of these programming interfaces, as Telephony Managerin Android, allow the programmer to access radio-specific parameters,for example RSSI and cell names.

In order to enable the operation of a system as described hereinabove anew functionality of the programming interfaces should preferably beprovided, that allows the following:

A. to communicate the service capabilities of an eNB or a UE to othereNBs or UEs in the geographic area of interest, using an inter-eNBcommunication interface, for example X2, or a transparent container overS1;

B. to access the eNBs operated by additional PLMNs (Network Operators)for the purpose of using the services provided by them;

C. to access a database (belonging to an operator or to a number ofoperators) of eNBs or UEs providing the required services, includingalso the position information of the eNBs and of the offered ISourcesand to make the information available to UE application developers.

D. to provide the developer of an application with a programminginterface listing the services supported by a base station or by a UEconnected to the base station or alternatively with the type of externalsensors supported by a base station or by a UE connected to that basestation.

E. to provide the developer of an application with a programminginterface listing which external sensors are available, where are theyconnected and the port number or any other applicable identifier.

F. to provide the developer of an application with a programminginterface listing one or more of the following: external sensorcapabilities, maximum operating range, manufacturer, power requirements,video frame format type, compression type, minimum data rate.

G. to provide the developer of an application with a programminginterface for acquiring data from the sensor.

H. to provide the developer of an application with a programminginterface allowing registering and unregistering sensor event listenersthat monitor sensor changes.

Stand-Alone Network Operation

A stand-alone eNB can be installed at a private or enterprise locationby the User, to provide Uu connectivity for a single type of ISource.

In this latter case, the ISource may use an identifier which is not aSIM and the ISource will be considered by the eNB as an I/O device. Thesame data and control interfaces should be defined.

The network architecture in this case may not include the MME/SGW andthe HSS and other core network servers. The PLMN (Public Land MobileNetwork or simply Network Operator) identifier of the access networkcreated by the stand-alone eNBs may be different from the PLMN used bythe cellular operator, even if in practice it is the same operator forboth networks.

A UE will disconnect from the ISource when executing handovers, beingconnected to the ISources located within its radio proximity.

Simplified procedures are needed for such an operation. However forenabling a UE to utilize both cellular and stand-alone eNB services, thePLMN identifier of the stand-alone base-station(s) should be enabled bysome entity, for example by provisioning or by an application running onthe UE.

An example of such operation is the low latency video of thestreets/roads for avoiding car accidents. The operator and base stationowner could be the local Municipality, while the user will receivemobile services through the mobile operator, using a different PLMNidentifier.

The double operation of a UE with two PLMNs can be achieved with DualConnectivity, where the Master eNB could be deployed by the cellularoperator and the Secondary eNB could be deployed by the Municipality.

A special case of operation in a stand-alone mode is the use of TDD inlicensed or license-exempt frequency bands, for example 5 GHz, 60 GHz orWhite Spaces below 1 GHz or in other shared bands.

Example of Vehicular Application for Low-Latency Video

For a better understanding of the invention, let us consider a possibleuse case which requires a low latency but is less demanding in terms ofcolor quality.

In FIG. 4, a video camera-401 is presented as connected to an eNB-402and over radio to a smartphone-405 or to a dedicated mobile receiver.The smartphone, or the dedicated mobile receiver in a vehicle receivesan image of a street and of the current traffic at it, image which isnot directly accessible to the person driving the vehicle or to videosensors of the vehicle itself, being hidden by the surroundingobstacles. This situation may happen for example when exiting asub-terrain garage, when entering an intersection, when driving on aserpentine road, while driving backwards, etc.

The typical solution nowadays to improve the driver's visibility in suchplaces is to install a mirror so that the driver can see if a vehicle isapproaching from the hidden part of the road. However, in many cases theimage is distorted, it becomes visible to the driver too late and it isdifficult to establish within a short period of time, the direction inwhich the vehicles are moving. Parking places as shown in FIG. 4 or roadintersections which lack visibility because of parked vehicles orbecause of their orientation, may be a source for accidents.

In FIG. 4 a camera 401 is sourcing the low delay video image of thestreet to a radio transmitter (eNB) 402; the radio receiver-404 in thevehicle displays the image of the street on a smartphone-405 which is inthe vehicle and belongs to a person or is part of the vehicleaccessories. Vehicle-403 moves at say 50 km/h while the driver ofvehicle 404 wishes to exit the parking place. The driver of vehicle-404,who cannot see the street traffic due to the other vehicle which isparked in parallel, becomes aware of the danger while viewing the imagereceived through the radio receiver and displayed on the smartphone,thereby he is able to avoid an accident with vehicle 403. In addition tothe video display or instead of it, the driver can receive audio alertson the imminent collision, alerts resulted from image processing.

An MPEG-4 image requires certain time for video compression, which is inthe order of 300-500 ms. Approximately the same time is required fordecompression, resulting in a total of up to 1 sec. A vehicle moving at100 km/hour advances approximately 27 m within one second (13 m at 50km/hour), while the breaking distance of a vehicle is up to 40 m at thisspeed (20 m at 50 km/hour). Thus, if MPEG-4 compression techniques wereto be used, the smartphone would provide only the previous position ofthe coming vehicle (i.e. the place where the vehicle was a second ago)which may mislead the driver assessing the risk of collision. The newITU H.265 video codec requires even a higher coding time.

Reduction of Video Data Rate

The video format and the color depth have a significant influence on thedata throughput of the mobile phone. For example, the HVGA format usedin some smartphones defines a video format of 480 lines and 320 columns,i.e. 153 600 pixels. While using 256 colors (8 bits), the amount of datato be transmitted per frame is 1.23 Mbits and in case of 30 frames persecond, resulting in 36.9 Mb/s, which is suitable for LTE smartphones.

However the frame format used for HD (high definition) uncompressedvideo, which is more suitable for video cameras and is used also in somehigh-end smartphones and tablets, defines at least 1280*780 points at 24bits of color and 24 frames/s, resulting in a data rate of 575 Mb/s,which is obviously too high even for the Category 4 type of phones (seeTS 36.306 V12.1.0 (2014-06)), which are able to receive up to 150 Mb/sin FDD mode. Also a 720*576 video format at 50 frames/s and 24 bits forcolor results in a similar 531 Mb/s.

In TDD mode, the Uu downlink data rate is reduced depending on thenumber of subframes that are used in the uplink direction. Also, in realdeployments, the lower modulation and coding rate will lead tosignificant data rate reductions, such that no more than 60 Mb/s in a 40MHz Carrier Aggregation mode, could be considered as a realistic target.

Some of the possible solutions for reducing this data rate to less thana 60 Mb/s are presented below.

Solutions for Reducing the Video Data Rate

A number of solutions that may be hardware implemented are presentedbelow:

A. Reducing the 24 color bits to 8 bits. This solution should sufficefor most of the low latency applications, for example RGB 3:3:2 paletteor YCbCr.

B. Using only a part of the HDMA video screen, i.e. using 960*640 pixelsfrom a HDMA screen of 1280*720 pixels; these two steps lead to a 123Mb/s rate.

C. Decimating the lines or using interleaved line wireless transmissioninstead of progressive line wireless transmission, leading to a twotimes reduction of the data rate, to 62 Mb/s;

E. Compressing the image by transmitting the video intra-frames in theiruncompressed form and the changes relative to intra-frames that occurredwithin the proceeding frames, in their compressed form.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, many variations ofthe above are possible. For example, using 12 color bits instead of 8color bits per pixel, etc.

Retransmissions

An aspect to be considered is the update of the video image in case thatthe packet carrying the video data has been corrupted (e.g. by noiseand/or due to interference) and cannot be decoded. If HARQ isoperational for the radio video transmission, it will introduce a delayof 9-10 ms, and suitable spare time-frequency resources should beallocated for retransmitting the corrupted packet. As some UEs may havereceived the data correctly, those UE should be able to discard thesubsequent transmissions of the same data.

If no HARQ is applied, there are in principle two possibilities: eitherto display the previous video data, or to blank the image for theduration of the un-decoded pixels.

In order to absorb the delay and jitter generated by the wirelessnetwork, a data buffer is preferably used at the receiver.

Synchronization

The MPEG solution for video frame synchronization is based on GPS timestamps at both transmitter and receiver locations. However, in thecellular architecture, the time stamps are inserted in the encoded MPEGstream at the video encoder, while in our case there is no embeddedtime-stamp in any of the video and audio interfaces, being insteadanalog synchronization signals generated by the source.

This means that the video adapter module (Isource Adapter) at thewireless transmitter has to add a time stamp derived from the videointerface control signals and using a GPS-based or other high precisionreference before the transmission of a well-known pixel, for example inthe horizontal or vertical blanking interval before the transmission ofthe first line or before a line M, or alternatively after thetransmission of the last line in the video frame or after thetransmission of a line N.

The video module in the wireless receiver will compare the receivedtime-stamp with a local-generated time-stamp based on the GPS or anequivalent reference signal and will instruct the PLL to modify thepixel frequency for compensating the time drift between the two timestamps.

Dependence of Video Data Rate and Wireless Resources

The wireless resources are spread into many frequency bands, composed offrequency channels. In each frequency channel time intervals orsubframes are defined and in the case of some cellular technologies,such as LTE, physical resource blocks (PRB) are also defined as aminimum frequency resource to be used in the scheduling oftransmissions.

A base station transmission can typically be an FDD (Frequency DivisionDuplex) or a TDD (Time Division Duplex) type of transmission.

The resources can be allocated within a frequency channel or by using acombination of frequency channels within the same frequency band or indifferent frequency bands while using the Carrier Aggregation (CA) mode,in which two or more frequency channels can be aggregated. In the CAmode the frequency channels can use the same duplexing type (FDD or TDD)or can use even different duplexing types.

The amount of the transmitted data depends on the availabletime-frequency and MCS resources which can be allocated for thattransmission. A time resource in cellular technology is in general asubframe. The frequency resource is the sum of allocated bandwidth, forexample the sum of the channel bandwidth or the sum of allocated PRBs ora combination of both.

The wireless transmitter of the video stream can use a Modulation andCoding Scheme (MCS) which is provisioned or dynamically establishedbased on CSI (Channel State Indicator) measurements reported by the pairUE (in case that the scheduling is done by eNB) or by the UE independenttransmitter in case of D2D communication or by using test procedures.Based on the MCS and the available radio resources, the radiotransmitter or the base station scheduler can assess the possible UserThroughput.

In case of low latency video transmission, the video data rate should beadapted in a way that allows transmission of the video images within theavailable time-frequency resources. These resources may be low in thelicensed bands below 2.5 GHz, medium between 2.5 GHz and 5 GHz, high inthe 5 GHz unlicensed bands and very high in bands above 5 GHz.

A specific video camera may support only the mandatory video frameformats, video frame frequency and color codes. A specific videoreceiver (display) may support only few types of display framing, colorcodes and video frame frequency. A wireless transmitter can haverestricted time-frequency resources which may impose a reduction of thevideo data rate when compared with the video data rate generated by thevideo source (camera).

A message should be sent from the scheduling entity to the ISource or tothe Image Adapter for providing the information on the achievable userthroughput.

In response, the ISource or the Image Adapter at the transmitter shouldchange the parameters of the video transmission and communicate the newparameters through a message to the Image Adapter at the receiver side.

For avoiding mis-operation, the Isource or the Image Adapter or amanaging software shall be aware of the supported display modes (videoframing format type, color coding, frame frequency) at the receiver.

Video Camera

Typically, the video camera includes an image sensing array, a scanningsystem configured to scan the image sensing array for different pixelnumbers per horizontal and vertical, an analog-to-digital converterconnected to the image sensing array, a radio interface and a signalprocessor compliant with a cellular technology and at least onemicrocontroller or digital signal processor configured to control thescanning system and to transmit uncompressed video data that correspondsto a selected frame format over the cellular interface.

Preferably, it should be possible to select a geometric area, such arectangle, a square, a circle, an ellipse, defined within the videoframe, and to ensure that within this geometric area, the refresh rateis different from the refresh rate of other geometric areas of theframes.

In order to avoid a bottle-neck scenario in the radio system, one shouldpreferably make sure that the image scanning is fast enough so that datais available when the radio can transmit it. Therefore, the scanningsystem should be controlled in a way that it can provide theuncompressed video data in a given time interval.

In addition, the control information that relates to the selected videoframe format, geometric form and its color code, should be adapted tothe available time-frequency and MCS (Modulation and Coding Scheme)radio resources for the transmission of the uncompressed video data.

For communicating with such a camera over the cellular network or forauthenticating it for use within the network, it is recommended toinclude a Subscriber Identity Module for at least one of the SIMpossible geometric forms.

Control of the Video Framing and Color Coding

The selection of the video frame format and of the color coding modeshould be based on both the data rate limitation of the wirelessinterface, the frame format type and color coding as supported by aspecific display and application.

Operation in Unlicensed (LE) Bands

The use of the LE bands may require radar detection, which can consumeapproximately 10-20% of the radio resources available. In addition, itmay be required to perform a Clear Channel Assessment with a randomdefer time.

Both operations introduce silence periods, thus creating a possibilityfor other transmitters using LBT (Listen Before Transmit) to use thechannel, thereby creating delays which are unacceptable for low latencyvideo transmissions.

It is recommended to use the virtual channel reservation by sending CTS(Clear to Send) or RTS (Request to Send) messages as defined in IEEE802.11 for protecting the un-compressed video data stream.

Generation of PDUs (Protocol Data Units)

PDUs are packets received from the ISource. Based on the importance ofdifferent portions of an image to the user, different pixel densities,color depths and refreshing rates can be used for different portions ofthe image.

Preferably, it should be possible to define one or more rectangularareas of interest in which the rate of refreshing the data associatedwith these areas and/or the pixel density thereat should be higher. Ahigher refreshing rate is reflected in the shortening of the timeintervals at which the pixels of this area are transmitted. On the otherhand, the refreshing rate could be lower for static or remote objects.

Other possibilities include lower pixel resolution for big objects.

Such an area of interest can be defined by a specific horizontal line, afirst pixel in the area, a number of pixels comprised thereat and/or anumber of horizontal lines. In addition the image can be down-sampled toreduce the number of transmitted pixels.

When receiving a new image, the Image Adapter block should applydifferent preprocessing to the areas of interest and to the lessinteresting areas, impacting the data rate reduction and the frequencyof the PDUs generation. For each selected area there will be in generalmore than one PDU.

Each PDU should contain a header that allows reconstructing the image.This header may indicate the vertical and horizontal place of the firstpixel, represented by its color code, within the video frame, the usageof video progressive or interlaced mode, the color coding method, thenumber of pixels included in the PDU, the QoS bearer type, the PDUdiscard policy, etc.

The MAC scheduler will provide a higher priority to those PDUs having ahigher QoS bearer type, so the PDUs representing the area of interestshould be designated with a higher QoS.

In addition, given the high data rate of the low-latency video, theutilized resources will span over different subframes and even componentcarriers. Each component carrier or subframe or subband, may becharacterized by being exposed to different interference levels and thescheduler may use different MCSs.

An improvement to the LTE downlink scheduling approach could be bydefining different MCSs per UE and per sub-band, instead of defining theMCS per UE and per subframe, thereby allowing a better mapping betweenMCS and the interference in the part of interest of the video image.

A special case is the use of unlicensed spectrum, where the interferencelevel can be higher as compared with that of the licensed spectrum.

A general policy in case of Carrier Aggregation could be the use of aless-interfered carrier for the PDUs having higher QoS requirements.

In case that a PDU is discarded, the discard policy can indicate, forexample, to retain the existing samples for the corresponding part ofthe video image or to fill it with a given color code.

IaaS Concept with C-RAN

C-RAN (Cloud-RAN or Centralized-RAN) is a concept in which one or moreof the lower layers functions (Physical, Link, S1 and X2 communicationinterfaces) are moved from the base station to a centralized processingand control equipment, having a location different from the Radio Headlocation which actually transmits the radio signal.

In some applications, the location of the Information Source is nothighly important, but in other application the ISource should preferablybe located at the proximity of the radio transmitter.

C-RAN architecture, as currently defined (ETSI GS NFV 001 V1.1.1(2013-10)) does not allow attaching an ISource to a Radio Head, as theexisting RHs carry only radio related information. For enabling thefunctionality described herein, it would be required to add data andcontrol communications for connecting the ISource on relevant premisesto the Radio transmitters, i.e. to the Remote Radio Heads, which mayembed or be connected to a ISource as described hereinbefore.

In order to achieve this goal, the ISource data should preferably bemultiplexed with the data transmitted by the RRH, for example, asdescribed in the CPRI Specification v6.0 (2013 Aug. 30).

The RRH transmits digital data as IQ data blocks. Some of these blocks,not containing the radio receiver data, may be replaced with data blockscontaining external data, i.e. data from ISource; the control block canindicate the nature of actual transmitted data. The data from ISourcemay contain a header describing the actual length and/or other relevantparameters.

The radio receiver data should be transmitted only for the valid receiveactivity, based on scheduling information for the up-link traffic.

Applications Using Low-Latency Video

In embodiments where low latency video transmissions are used, the UEshould preferably create a connection at the application level with theserving eNB and request the service capabilities of the serving as wellas the neighbor eNBs. This operation assumes that the Servicecapabilities of the Neighbor eNBs are either provisioned or can beretrieved over S1 or X2 interfaces. It should be noted that none ofS1/X2 interfaces supports today (3GPP TS 36.413 V12.2.0 (2014-06) and3GPP TS 36.423 V12.2.0 (2014-06)) exchange of such messages.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the Service Capabilities ofthe serving and neighbor eNBs are transferred by the serving eNB to theapplication. At this stage, the application can retrieve the possibleservices and to select the service of interest and its operationalparameters. Optionally, the application may propose in response its ownpreferred parameters.

Alternatively, the possible services that may be provisioned by aneighbor eNB are filtered to match the UE subscription, and one or modecodes are provided to the UE, for example the multicast group identifierand the decryption or descrambling code or key. Based on these codes,the UE may obtain the scheduling information and decrypt or descramblethe received data.

The application causes the UE to connect to one of the relevant eNBs.The UE will select the right eNB based on radio considerations (e.g.RSRP, RSRQ) and possibly based also on other information, like thecurrent load at the target eNBs. Based on the UE request, the servingeNB will either execute the handover to the selected eNB or will connectto it while operating in a Dual Connectivity mode.

The data received by the UE may be displayed, processed or anycombination thereof. The UE may delegate the processing in its entirety(or part thereof) to the serving eNB connected to the ISource. Afterprocessing, the serving eNB will send to the application of the UE, on aspecial MAC address or bearer, the results, including information to bedisplayed or to initiate audio/voice alerts.

It should be noted that the base station operating system is not openfor applications. Even in centralized C-RAN concepts, where the basestation radio behavior can be virtualized at different levels, theprogrammer has access only to radio-related resources but not toapplication-level related resources.

The UE may integrate the information on the maps (Location BasedServices) and provide guidance on how to reach the location.

In road safety applications it is also useful to correlate the imagewith a map and to mark the UE (vehicle) location on the map. The personusing the application may then determine more easily if there are anypotential risks. A controlling entity may further be used to recommend atraffic speed function based on the image analysis results.

ISource and Application Specific Information

The eNB and UE may need to provide IUser information which is specificfor the ISource installation and operation.

In case of the video stream that presents the current view of a street,preferably, it should also include user-friendly information, such asthe street name and the position of the camera sensor versus the axe ofthe street (North, South, East, West or other applicable combinations).

When approaching an intersection, there are two directions from which avehicle can come. For each direction a different camera should be usedwhich will capture the image of the coming vehicles. The applicationshould identify the direction of the vehicles which are closest to theUE. This can be achieved based on the energy of the reference signals,if each one of the two video cameras is connected to a different radiotransmitter (either eNB antenna, different RRH or different UE).

Image processing by a processor installed in the UE or in the eNB or inan internal/external chip/module can be used to detect a potentialcollision and make the UE user aware of that risk by generating an audiosignal or voice alert.

In case of an accident or fire, the application running on a UE canalert the first responders (police, ambulance, fire service, etc.) andprovide the location of the event.

Optionally, the application can provide a human interface to enable theuser to indicate one or more areas of interest of the video image.

Radio Specific Behavior

A road-safety application as the one described above that uses low-delayvideo is preferably configured to retrieve from the UE located in thevehicle a list of neighbor base stations and their ID. The listcomprises the ARFCN (frequency channel) information, PLMN and the eNB orUE ID. Another possibility is to use the TPID (transmission point ID).

The application shall be able to know to which cells or transmissionpoints (“TPs”) a camera is possibly connected, to control the physicallayer of the UE for searching for the discovery signals of the cellsindicating their presence, including the synchronization signalscarrying the Physical Cell identifier on the suitable frequencychannel(s). Then, to establish if the received Physical Cell Identifieris found in the list, and based on the energy of the synchronization orother discovery signals, to request the network to carry out a cellswitch over or to add the cell in a carrier aggregation mode or in adual connectivity mode.

The process of the connection to streaming video should preferably bevery short. One option for carrying out this process is to configure theSIB1 (System Information Block 1) to carry a special indication, such aspecial PLMN, which may be used for road safety applications.

If dormant, the cell transmitting the video image can be turned onfollowing the detection of an approaching vehicle by a proximity sensorconnected to an eNB either by wire or wirelessly.

Another possibility is the standardization of new cell/D2D discoverysignals indicating time-sensitive applications like low delay video.

If the video camera is connected behind a UE, a similar process can takeplace based on D2D Reference Signals. The UE in the vehicle shall beconfigured or receive a message from the eNB containing the D2DScheduling Assignment, representing the repetitive pattern oftime-frequency resources in which the video streaming will be received.

In order to achieve this goal, first would be required to identify theUE transmitting the video, by monitoring the D2D discovery resources.Additional information could be provided by transmitting the UEcapability to support the road safety services or low-latency videoservices. The UE in the vehicle (i.e. the application), in case that theUE transmitting the video is connected to a base station or TP, shouldrequest to communicate with the UE transmitting the video and receivetherefrom the Scheduling Assignment and other operational parameters(multicast group identifier, decryption key or descrambling code), toenable that receiving UE to decode the transmission.

If the UE transmitting the video is out of base station coverage, theservice parameters can optionally be pre-configured.

Programming Interface for Low-delay Video Applications

In order to carry out the described video applications, a programminginterface should preferably be configured to provide the applicationdeveloper with a list of services supported by a base station or by a UEconnected to the base station, or a list of external sensors supportedby a base station or by a UE connected to that base station.

In addition, the programming interface should be configured to enableretrieving information like: which external sensors are available, whereare they connected and the addressing information (port number, etc.) aswell as one or more of the external sensors' capabilities, for examplemaximum operating range, manufacturer, power requirements, video frameformat type, compression type, minimum data rate, and the like.

The programming interface should preferably enable the programmer toretrieve the data acquired from the external sensor and should beconfigured to allow forwarding commands to the sensor.

In addition, the programming interface should preferably be configuredto allow registering and unregistering sensor event listeners thatmonitor the sensor changes.

Lawful Interception

In a number of countries service providers are required to maintaincopies of certain communications.

If the communications pass through a base station, either the basestation or the recording devices in the non-access stratum can recordthe information. In the latter case, the information should be forwardedby the base station. In the case of low-latency video, the informationused for Lawful Interception can be compressed.

In case of D2D communication in which both radio transmitters are withinthe network coverage, the transmitted information can be received by thebase stations, with the condition that the MCS and the number of layersused by both UEs for D2D, make the reception by eNB, possible.

The fact that bi-directional communications should be recorded for bothdirections by the same device is in fact translated to a requirementthat both UEs will be within the coverage of the same base station. Thetransmission of each UE should use the highest possible MCS and layernumber, such that the eNB will receive the transmissions while using theresources allocated for D2D communication. Similarly, with respect toCSI in eNB to UE communications, the highest CQI index and number oflayers (rank) for a given error rate is assessed by UE and transmittedon PUCCH or PUSCH to eNB, it is needed that the eNB will transmit, basedon UL reference signals, a CSI-like information to UE including CQI(modulation and coding index), PMI (Pre-coding Matrix Index) and RI(Rank Indicator).

However, in general the PMI may be different for D2D communications fromUE-eNB communications, and similarly other parameters may also bedifferent when implementing D2D communications as opposed to thoseassociated with UE-eNB communications.

To overcome this hurdle, two CSI parameter sets should preferably bedefined for D2D communication and exchanged between the UEs in the D2Dpair:

a. A first CSI set (CQI, PMI, RI) referring to D2D receive operation ofthe reference signals generated by the transmitting UE of the D2D pair;and

b. A second CSI set (CQI, PMI, RI) referring to UL receive operation ofthe reference signals transmitted by eNB.

It should be further noted that at least the eNB should preferablyprovide a feedback on the CSI only for CQI and RI, with the assumptionthat no PMI will be provided by UE. A special control message may beused to indicate the assumption taken at receiver for the CSI feedback.

The MCS and rank selection process will preferably occur in threephases:

1. First phase, in which the D2D communication link is set;

2. Second phase, in which the information of the second CSI set isexchanged between UEs;

3. Third phase, in which the appropriate CSI is selected for thetransmissions of each UE, such that both D2D and UE to eNBcommunications will operate in the same radio frame.

In case that the D2D communications are unidirectional, only one UE willtake the decision regarding the used MCS and layer number, whereas itsdecision will still be based on the two CSI sets.

eNB and UE Functional Structure

The eNB structure is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5. The eNBtypically comprises radios and DSPs-501, the eNB controller andprocessor-502, memory (RAM, flash) blocks-503, Network interfaces (504)and an external-505 or embedded Switch/Router.

The UE structure is schematically illustrated in FIG. 6. The UEtypically comprises radios and DSPs-601, the UE controller andprocessor-602, memory (RAM, flash) blocks-603. The Network interfaces(604) and the user interfaces (609) are optional.

eNB can embed I/O modules specific to the Information Source-510, forexample an interface card 511 or an interface chip (not shown in thisfigure). In case of low-latency video, the I/O will include for examplea HDMI or a HDBaseT interface. The Interface Card or the interface chipmay include an adapter block, with processing capabilities for data ratereduction.

The eNB illustrated in FIG. 5 or the UE illustrated in FIG. 6 can use anexternal box-507 or 607, respectively, which can include specific I/Ointerfaces (for example industrial interfaces, video interfaces) andsome processing capabilities, for example A/D or D/A converters, digitalor analog filters and amplifiers, image processing functions, etc.

Same functions as described above can be included in the internalmodules 511 or 611, respectively.

The UE can process the data received from the ISource or can transfer itexternally for processing. This is especially applicable when the datarequires high computational capabilities.

A general interface for the eNB/UE can be Ethernet, with or without IPover it, which can aggregate on a single physical port (through aRouter/Switch) multiple Information Sources.

Another interface widely used is USB.

In case of low-latency applications it may be needed to include a modulefor image data rate reduction or image restoration (Image Adaptor)within the UE and/or the eNB. Such module(s) may be located within theUE processor, including display interfaces, or may be located in amodule 611 which is materialized in a form of FPGA or ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit). Same approach may be needed also for theeNB.

The base station can also include information and processing functionsthat are specific for the respective ISource.

The eNB or UE can analyze inputs received from Isources (512, 612) andprovide external commands to actuators, robots, etc., or to sound/voicegenerators, displays, etc.

Technologies

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the terminology usedthroughout the specification is mainly that which is associated with LTEstandards. However, it should be understood that embodiments of thepresent invention encompass other cellular standards, such as HSDPA andthe like and both TDD and FDD duplexing modes.

The examples provided show certain ways of carrying out the invention.It is to be understood that invention is not intended to be limited tothe examples disclosed herein. Rather, the invention extends to allfunctionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, as are within thescope of the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing road safety servicesin a cellular system, comprising: forming by a road safety applicationat least one group comprising at least one first user equipment (UE) andat least one second UE communicating one with another by using adevice-to-device (D2D) cellular technology; assigning at least one groupidentifier to the at least one group; receiving road safety informationin the at least one first UE or in an external processing blockconnected to the at least one first UE; providing to the at least onefirst UE by a scheduler within the at least one first UE or within theat least one second UE or within at least one base station or bypre-configuring the at least one first UE or a combination thereof, atleast one first scheduling assignment of radio resources, fortransmitting over a wireless communication channel road safetyinformation; providing by a scheduler within the at least one first UEor within the at least one second UE or within the at least one basestation or by pre-configuring the at least one second UE or acombination thereof, at least one second scheduling assignment of radioresources for receiving by the at least one group, over the wirelesscommunication channel, the road safety information; transmitting by theat least one first UE to the at least one base station or to the atleast one group, while using the at least one first schedulingassignment, the road safety information; and retrieving the road safetyinformation by the at least one base station, while using the at leastone second scheduling assignment, or by at least one UE belonging to theat least one group, while using the at least one group identifier andwhile using the at least one second scheduling assignment.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the road safety information includes videodata or control information resulting from processing the video data andrelates to a potential collision.
 3. The method according to claim 2,wherein the video data represents at least one area of at least onevideo image in proximity to the at least one first UE.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 2, wherein the video data is the result of processingusing codec procedures defined by an ITU video technology standard. 5.The method according to claim 3, wherein at least one video sensorproviding the image of the vehicle or at least one control element usingthe control information is identified by at least one member of a groupthat consists of: a cellular SIM, an Ethernet address or a productidentification number.
 6. The method according to claim 3, wherein thevideo data or the control information is used by a robot or by a controlelement embedded in a vehicle.
 7. The method according to claim 3,wherein the at least one area of the at least one video image from thevideo data is displayed on a screen located within a vehicle, andwherein the at least one area being displayed represents a current viewof a road along which the vehicle is driving or is about to drive. 8.The method according to claim 3, wherein the control information is usedin at least one of the following actions: activating an alert,controlling movement of the vehicle or sending a message or an alert toat least one third party.
 9. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one first scheduling assignment for transmission isidentical with the at least one second scheduling assignment forreception.
 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least onegroup identifier is used by the at least one UE belonging to the atleast one group for recognizing at least one of the first and of thesecond scheduling assignments.
 11. The method according to claim 1,wherein the at least one group identifier is used by the at least one UEbelonging to the at least one group for recognizing whether a datapacket is designated for its reception.
 12. The method according toclaim 1, wherein a database includes location information of basestations or second user equipments through which the road safetyinformation may be delivered, for allowing a fast handover of the atleast one UE belonging to the at least one group to a different basestation or a fast connection to the at least one first UE through whichthe road safety information may be delivered.
 13. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the road safety information is delivered by aspecific network operator.
 14. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe wireless communication channel includes carrier aggregation.
 15. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein at least one carrier in anun-licensed or light licensed spectrum is utilized in the wirelesscommunication channel.
 16. The method according to claim 3, andcomprising providing to a human user an application running on the atleast one UE belonging to the group for displaying the video image oractivating an audio alert or providing to a control element mounted in avehicle and connected to the at least one UE belonging to the group atleast one of the following road safety information: the video datarepresenting the at least one area of the at least one video image ofthe road or the control information or any combination thereof.
 17. Auser equipment (UE) apparatus for use in a cellular system supportingroad safety services and comprising: a first interface, configured toestablish a first wireless communication channel between the UEapparatus and at least one other user equipment (UE), by using adevice-to-device (D2D) cellular technology; a second interface,configured to establish a second wireless communication channel betweenthe UE apparatus and at least one base station, by using a cellulartechnology; and a processing block configured to transmit road safetyinformation to the at least one other UE or to the at least one basestation while using a first scheduling assignment provided by the UEapparatus or provided by the at least one base station or preconfiguredor a combination thereof, in a way to be retrieved by the at least oneother UE while using at least one group identifier of a group comprisingthe at least one other UE and formed by a road safety application andwhile using at least one second scheduling assignment of radioresources, either communicated by the UE apparatus or communicated bythe base station or preconfigured or a combination thereof, to be usedby the group of at least one other UE for receiving road safetyinformation.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the roadsafety information relates to a potential collision and includes videodata or control information resulting from processing the video data.19. The apparatus according to claim 18, including a third interface,configured to receive the video data from at least one video sensorwhich captures video images of a road or to receive control informationfrom an internal or external processing block connected to the at leastone video sensor.
 20. The apparatus according to claim 19, wherein thevideo data is the result of image processing by a video codec compliantwith ITU H.265 of the output of a video sensor collocated with the UEapparatus.
 21. A vehicle comprising the UE according to claim 18, andincluding a controller and at least one brake actuator or a drivingrobot, including at least one processor configured to analyze either thereceived video data or the received control information and configuredto determine an action to be taken based on results of processing of oneor more of the video data and control information.
 22. A base stationapparatus for use in a cellular system supporting road safety servicesand comprising: an interface, configured to establish a wirelesscommunication channel, by using a cellular technology, between the basestation apparatus and at least one user equipment (UE) belonging to atleast one group comprising at least one first UE and at least one secondUE communicating one with another by using a device-to-device (D2D)cellular technology; and a processing block configured to provide atleast one first scheduling assignment of radio resources to at least onefirst UE for transmitting road safety information to the base station orto the at least one group over a wireless communication channel, and toprovide at least one second scheduling assignment of radio resources tothe at least one second UE or to the at least one group for receivingthe road safety information transmitted by the at least one first UE, ina way that the road safety information is retrieved by at least one UEbelonging to the group while using at least one group identifierassigned to the at least one group by a road safety application andwhile using the at least one second scheduling assignment of radioresources for the reception of the road safety information.
 23. Theapparatus according to claim 22, including a second interface,configured to receive video data from at least one video sensor whichcaptures video images of a road or to receive control information froman internal or external processing block connected to the at least onevideo sensor.
 24. A user equipment (UE) apparatus for use in a cellularsystem supporting road safety services and comprising: a firstinterface, configured to establish a first wireless communicationchannel between the UE apparatus and at least one other user equipment(UE), by using a device-to-device (D2D) cellular technology; a secondinterface, configured to establish a second wireless communicationchannel between the UE apparatus and at least one base station, by usinga cellular technology; and a processing block configured to receive fromthe at least one base station or from the at least one other UE orpreconfigured or a combination thereof at least one schedulingassignment of resources for receiving road safety information, and toretrieve the road safety information while using at least one groupidentifier of at least one group, formed by a road safety application,to which the UE apparatus belongs and while using the at least onescheduling assignment of resources.
 25. The UE apparatus according toclaim 24, wherein the road safety information relates to a potentialcollision and includes video data or control information resulting fromprocessing the video data.
 26. The UE apparatus according to claim 25,wherein the processing block further includes the processing of at leastone area of the at least one video image so as to detect a potentialcollision.
 27. A vehicle comprising the UE according to claim 24, andincluding a controller and at least one brake actuator or a drivingrobot, including at least one processor configured to analyze either thereceived video data representing the at least one area of the at leastone video image or the received control information derived fromprocessing the at least one video image and configured to determine anaction to be taken based on results of processing of one or more of thevideo data or control information.
 28. The vehicle according to claim27, wherein the action to be taken is a member of a group that consistsof: reducing the speed of the vehicle, activating an audio alert,sending a message, sending an alert to a third party, or any combinationthereof.
 29. The UE communication apparatus according to claim 25,wherein the received video data representing the at least one area ofthe at least one video image or the received control informationrelating to the potential collision is provided to at least one mobileapplication running on the processor of the said apparatus so as toexecute at least one action selected from a group that consists of: (i)display the at least one area of the video image on the UE display; (ii)activate an audio alert; (iii) provide a command to at least one anotherapparatus.
 30. The base station apparatus according to claim 22, whereinthe at least one first scheduling assignment for transmission isidentical with the at least one second scheduling assignment forreception.
 31. The method according to claim 1, wherein the radioresources comprise time-frequency resources.